Immigration advocates to Obama: Go big on amnesty

posted at 6:21 pm on July 2, 2014 by Allahpundit

You know the saying: Go big or go home. And we all know they’re not going home.

How does “unilateral legalization for all illegals” grab you?

[I]n the wake of Obama’s Monday Rose Garden speech vowing unilateral action, some reformers want the president to go far beyond a limited expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, to essentially legalize the millions of undocumented immigrants who would be eligible for work permits under the bill passed by the Senate last summer.

“The administration has unquestionable legal authority to provide all those who would qualify for citizenship under the bipartisan Senate Bill affirmative status with work authorization while making immigration enforcement more just,” Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO said Tuesday in a statement. “The administration should act boldly and without further delay.”…

[R]ecommendations include not only a broad expansion of DACA to include older immigrants, but also efforts to allow illegal immigrants enrolled in DACA to enlist in the military; to bar local governments from enforcing immigration law; and to permit more undocumented relatives of U.S. military members and veterans to remain in the country while they seek green cards.

In other words, he’s going to unilaterally enact a Senate bill that didn’t pass the House. But not the whole bill: It’d be bad enough as an affront to separation of powers if he snapped his fingers and declared the Gang of Eight’s plan de facto law, but at least you’d get some extra border security out of that. What liberals want is for him to ignore the security provisions in the GoE plan, which Republicans favor, and implement only the legalization stuff supported by Democrats. If he does that, he’ll have set the following precedent: When the president’s party offers its opponents a bad compromise with token concessions, the opposition can either swallow hard and accept or watch as the president yanks the concessions and implements the stuff his side wants anyway. Either you take what Democrats give you or you get nothing, by His Majesty’s command. It’s an offer you can’t refuse. If he tries that and gets away with it, after spending the past year warning amnesty fans that there’s only so much he can do on his own and that this is ultimately a job for Congress, it’s the end of legislative independence. And of course, Democratic legislators like Steny Hoyer and Bob Menendez are perfectly happy about it. For now.

How would he go about legalizing people through executive action? BuzzFeed has a hint:

Chief among the executive actions would be an expansion of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), beyond undocumented youth known as DREAMers who received it initially, for undocumented immigrants who are low-priority American workers and those who would benefit from the Senate’s immigration reform bill.

The memo also calls for an expansion of “parole in place” to more undocumented immigrants, which would temporarily protect them from removal and provide them the ability to work in the country. The lawmakers give the example of a deferred action recipient who marries a U.S. citizen and doesn’t have to leave the country to apply for a green card.

Is it temporary, though? Which candidates in the 2016 GOP field would risk alienating Latinos right out of the chute as president by rescinding Obama’s “temporary” legalization and reinstating deportations? Not even President Cruz would want to risk having his first year or two in office sidetracked with a political war over immigration when he’s busy trying to put his broader agenda in place. The best-case scenario if Obama institutes a “temporary” mass amnesty is that it’d encourage his Republican successor to strike a deal quickly with Congress on comprehensive reform once in office. Once Congress has formally ratified the idea of legalization, then the president could lift O’s order secure in the knowledge that he’d merely be sharing blame with the legislature going forward. The only question mark here, if/when Obama finally makes his move, is the timing. Does he do it this year, when the effect at the polls might be muted (or even backfire by inflaming righties), or does he wait until next year with an eye to helping Democrats with Latino turnout in 2016? Will his base even let him wait at this point?

Here’s Luis Gutierrez, who thought hard about all this and concluded that “the antidote for do-nothingism is doing something,” looking ahead to how our secular pope might “heal” the nation by taking a dump on separation of powers. Exit question: If Obama had the power to grant mass amnesties all along, why’d he seek congressional authorization in the first place? In theory he wants legislation instead of an executive order because an order can be rescinded by the next president whereas legislation can’t be, but in practice that doesn’t really make sense. For one thing, given the precedents Obama’s set in ignoring parts of ObamaCare, legislation isn’t nearly as binding as it used to be — even on the guy who signed it into law. Also, it can’t be that whether an action taken by the president is appropriate or not depends on how temporary it is. If O issued an executive order nationalizing the banks for the rest of his term, the fact that President Cruz could lift it in 2017 doesn’t mean it’s copacetic now. Presumably, Obama went to Congress on amnesty in the first place not because he preferred to but because he thought, correctly, that wholesale rewrites of America’s immigration policy must be done by the legislature. He seems to have changed his mind at some point. How come?

Blowback

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That’s not logistics that’s a head without a body. I’m talking supply train, not hapless dufuses in the custody of the Italians.

Akzed on July 2, 2014 at 7:36 PM

If you are expecting landing craft and destroyer escorts, they aren’t coming. That sort of invasion we could defeat.

This is an invasion just like what is happening along the US-Mexican border.
Later it may become something like The Green March but they aren’t going to attack in a manner that we can easily defeat. They aren’t stupid. Londonistan exists and so do the French Muslim enclaves.

If Mexico arranged for 500,000 men, women , and children to march across the border like Morocco did with the Green March do you think anyone would open fire? The nature of war has changed.

You can scream all you want. The fact remains, amnesty hasn’t passed, and lack of republican votes is the reason why.

cozmo

That’s right! Amnesty hasn’t passed… Pathway to Citizenship has! Or at least… in the Senate it has (with Republican votes) and it was on track to pass by Republican hand in the House before Cantor’s sudden departure/sudden invasion of disease spreading typhoid marys has slowed its passage… but better believe it’ll come back first chance it gets.

Republicans cannot be trusted on this issue, they need to have their hands held like the spoiled misbehaving children they are in order to keep them from straying towards joyful destruction. The only real difference is that Democrats will bite your hand if you try to keep them from their mayhem.

If Mexico arranged for 500,000 men, women , and children to march across the border like Morocco did with the Green March do you think anyone would open fire? The nature of war has changed.

sharrukin on July 2, 2014 at 7:48 PM

Precisely the thesis of Jean Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints. Excoriated by critics as a xenophobic rant when the novel was released, they missed its real thesis: that the West has lost the will to defend itself. Worth a read.

Precisely the thesis of Jean Raspail’s The Camp of the Saints. Excoriated by critics as a xenophobic rant when the novel was released, they missed its real thesis: that the West has lost the will to defend itself. Worth a read.

de rigueur on July 2, 2014 at 8:07 PM

I looked it up. Apparently written in 1973 and the Moroccan Green March took place in 1975. I wonder if the Moroccan King read it and put it into action?

Obama had both houses of Congress for his first two years. Why was nothing done then?

skilaki on July 2, 2014 at 8:29 PM

Because if had done something about it then, he couldn’t have made it an election issue like he has the last 4 years. Plus, then people would be able to scrutinize him when it didn’t work.

Obama doesn’t care about anything other than politics. He thinks of nothing else…other than golf.

And speaking of golf, Obama has played more rounds of golf than he has had cabinet meetings. It shows.

Meople on July 2, 2014 at 8:33 PM

I can understand making it an election issue, but all I keep hearing is how the dems see the illegals as potential voters for their party. So if that is the case, why did they not take action during those first two years that would have locked up the hispanic vote? I’m sure any loss of voters would have been more than made up by millions of new hispanic voters.

I don’t think Obama cares about politics, rather he cares much more about himself. That is what a megalomaniac does. He could care less about his approval numbers. As far as he is concerned, the American people are not worthy to him.

Obama’s really not doing well so I’d be careful what you wish for. His pen and his phone have given us over 60,000 children beating down the gates to come into the country, what else can he do? We have high unemployment (regardless of what the labor department’s doctored statistics say) and this guy wants to bring in more illegals to take jobs.

Each day this man is President, the closer we get to fulfilling Cloward-Piven.

When the president’s party offers its opponents a bad compromise with token concessions, the opposition can either swallow hard and accept or watch as the president yanks the concessions and implements the stuff his side wants anyway.

If he does this, it is only because he wants an excuse to call for martial law, because amnesty by EO would be met with violence and likely a revolution. Even if he declares he is expanding the illegal and unconstitutional DACA program, he will be breaking the law enough to inspire violence.

Obama’s admitted he doesn’t have the authority:
“With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive order —that’s just not the case…Congress passes the laws.” “The Executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement the laws, and then the Judiciary has to interpret the laws. There are enough laws on the books by Congress that are very clear in terms of how we have to enforce our immigration system, that for me to simply through executive order ignore those congressional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president.” -Barack Hussein Obama

What I can’t fathom is why no prominent anti-amnesty politician, other than Jeff Sessions, is willing or able to make hay out of the relationship between the flood of illegal foreign workers and working-class unemployment and wage issues.

To me it would seem an obvious and effective meme to beat to death: Democrats care more about work permits and scholarshps for illegals than jobs for unemployed American citizens or seats for waitlisted American students.

Oh, here’s a little factoid to pass along: in California every year 20,000 eligible Americans are having their college dreams waitlisted by UC and CSU while the California DREAM Act puts 6000 illegals in their place:

The Obama DREAM Act: Americans get waitlisted so illegals can get educated.

It is still going to be a much better scenario for us to have an executive order, instead of having a legislation on amnesty.

The next wave of new technologies, including automation and robots, would likely eliminate many low-skill jobs in the US. For example, the Google driver-less cars can soon drive by themselves. In other words, there is a reasonable chance that the jobs that many low-skilled jobs that most illegal aliens are currently have will no longer exist within the next 10 to 20 years.

I believe this is part of the reason that amnesty advocates are becoming even more desperate and aggressive on amnesty push.

The very one thing that will insure a GOP takeover of the Senate will be the Emperor’s executive order granting amnesty to illegals(assuming the GOP is smart enough to oppose it),because the people of this coutry wilnl rise up with a passion not seen since 1776 to fight the dictator and his legions.Vigilantism,here we come!If the Black Hitler tries to “borrow” Congressional power,we the people will borrow it too,and there will be no stopping us.

The GOP has consistently stated it supports amnesty and consistently stated it wants amnesty.

Is that in the plank? Is that a position statement from the Grand Old Party? Do you have something on letterhead? No? Guess that makes you the liar.

But, the GOP will never stop pushing amnesty and trying to get it passed.

Had they wanted to push it all they woyuld have had to do is roll over and let it happen. Guess that makes you a liar..

Of course, they will define amnesty as “immediate citizenship” and claim to be against “amnesty”. But, amnesty is giving any legal status to illegals.

… and a fortuneteller. I remember the BS you shoveled during the last election, your crystal ball is broken.

So, you keep claiming that the GOP is our savior and we must support the GOP blindly no matter what.

Your 3rd party pipe dream will never happen. Suck on that.

After all, who are we to believe – Boehner and McConnell, the leaders of the party, or you?

Sooo… They are the ones allowing and paying for tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to be flown all over the country? Nope, that’s the guy that you helped bring us by default with your constant hysterics and your raft of incoherent, infantile BS. Thanks for nothing, child.

Obviously we should believe you,

We? Have you been nominated as someones spokesman or something? You believe whatever you wish, you have demonstrated that you inhabit an alternate reality over and over again.

because when we disagree with you call us traitors,

Who the heck is this we? When you say you are deliberately voting for the worst for the country.. to deliberately damage it, yeah, you are a traitor. Suck on that as well.

or children,

Infantile was the word, It’s infantile to demand the you are given the absolute best choice in the world or you are going to toss all your toys out of the crib and let it burn. Don’t like it? Grow up.

or whatever other “argument” you think is intelligent.

Shake your fist harder. Better yet, see if you can be even more shrill and even more of a drama queen. Your Shelly Winters routine hasn’t gotten old or sad or lame or anything like that. By the way, because I have to spell it out to you, that wasn’t a lie it was sarcasm.